Fwd: TAKE ACTION FOR CARRIAGE HORSES

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4-16/138 - March 8, 2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HORSE SENSE

 

 

 

Weekly=2

0updates about issues and actions concerning New York City's Carriage Horses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages

www.banhdc.org

 

 

 

 

 

20 PLEASE FORWARD TO LISTS, FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES ** Urgent Letters to Council needed ** Boycott Rome tourism ** Horse collapses in Victoria, BC ** NYC Comptroller forum ** Voice of America

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

URGENT - PLEASE CONTACT COUNCIL MEMBERS

 

 

 

Letters Needed - Intro 653-A may pass out of committee

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Council Member John Liu has just signed on

to Intro

653-A., the carriage industry bill. This is not good news. Mr.

Liu either does not know what he is

supporting or he is getting campaign

contributions. He is announcing tomorrow his

run for the office of Comptroller ...

handling the city's money. The best way to contact the NYC Council is a

snail mail letter and I know that many of you

have already done this. Those of you who

have sent e-mails in the last two weeks,

know how many of them bounced for both

Council Members and

their aides. It is assumed that spam

filters were utilized. So it is my hope this week is that we can get

back

to the old fashioned method of writing

letters=2

0and mailing them.

 

Please take the time to write letters to the

members

of the City Council Consumer Affairs

Committee, which

includes John Liu. Click on

the link for each of these Council Members

listed below to

find their addresses. Send to their

district office

rather then to the legislative office since

the latter is sometimes not manned.

 

CONSUMER AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

Leroy

Comrie - Chair

Charles

Barron

John

Liu (also bill sponsor)

James

Gennaro

G.

Oliver Koppell (also bill sponsor)

BILL SPONSORS

Kendall

Stewart

David

Weprin

Simcha

Felder

 

 

 

SAMPLE LETTER Dear

Council Member: Please oppose and vote against

Intro

653-A. This bill asks for a rate

increase for an industry

that has already given themselves a huge

increase through their many web sites - and

charges tourists on the street more than

allowed by law. It continues to be ignored by

the Department of Consumer Affairs. While the

legal rate is $34 for ½ hour and $10 for each

additional ¼ hour, some of the carriage

companies charge as much as $174 for a

40-minute ride. In addition, the bill would eliminate the inspections and oversight of the ASPCA, which

also supports a ban. This is a mistake and

would encourage more abuse. If passed into

law, this bill would cost tax payers

additional money through the

Department of Health or Consumer Affairs

since the new oversight entity will be paid

for through their budgets. The ASPCA does

this work on a volunteer basis. Horse-drawn carriages do not belong on the

crowded and congested streets of NYC. It is

time for NYC to move into the 21st century. Please do the right thing for the taxpayers

of NYC who want to have faith in their

government. Vote against Intro 653-A.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CANDIDATES FOR NYC COMPTROLLER TO SPEAK

 

 

 

Wednesday, March 11th at 8:00 PM (get there at 7:30)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three

Parks Independent Democrats is

sponsoring a forum for the candidates who

are running for NYC Comptroller. They are

Council Members Melinda Katz; David Yassky

and David Weprin. Please come to make sure

that Weprin, who supports Intro 653-A, is

asked questions about the fraud involved with

this bill and how he can justify running for

Comptroller when the bill would cost tax

payers more money. The forum is at the

Youth Hostel, 103rd St. & Amsterdam Avenue. At this date, it is not known if John Liu

will attend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VOICE OF AMERICA REPORTS ON HDC ISSUE

 

 

 

features Friends of Animals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Animal

Rights Advocates Call for Ban on Horse Drawn

Carriage Rides in New York - By Nathan King - New York, - 04 March 2009 --

Horse drawn carriage rides around New York

City's Central Park are a popular tourist

attraction, but animal rights protesters are

pushing to ban the rides. Friends of Animals, a New York-based group,

argues that the noise and other distractions

of the city are harming the horses' health.

They also say the horses are not properly

cared for. Legislation recently introduced in the New

York City Council calls for ending the rides.

The carriage drivers reject the criticism and

say 400 jobs would be lost if the legislation

passes.

For more, click on video link to the right

of the article in the yellow box.

 

 

 

 

 

BOYCOTT TRAVEL TO ROME

 

 

 

new regulations are a joke and do not help the horses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gianni Alemanno, the Mayor of Rome, had the

opportunity to do something right for the

much beleaguered and exploited carriage

horses of that great city and to pay

attention to the people. Instead, new

regulations just passed assure that the

horses will continue to suffer. One of the

new rules requires that the horses and

carriages be equipped with "reflectors." Are

these sun reflectors, which is a joke in the

making - or reflectors to be used at night? After a previous suggestion of adding a

motor to the horse carriage to make it easier

for the horse to pull - anything is possible.

In any case, this was an opportunity lost

to help the horses. Life may go on in Rome,

but we need to stand in solidarity with

people all over the world who care about

these horses. See this article by the AP - published

throughout the world. This is from Kansas

City.com

Please send an e-mail to Rome officials

telling them that you are boycotting travel

to Rome until they ban the botticelle

(horse-drawn carriages.) SUBJECT LINE: Turisti Boicottano Roma e

le Botticelle

(you may write your message in any language

but be sure to indicate where you live.)

urp

l

d.ambiente

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HORSE COLLAPSES IN VICTORIA BC CANADA

 

 

 

Take action - write to authorities and ask for a ban

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A working carriage horse collapsed on a busy

street in downtown Victoria, British Columbia,

Canada on Thursday, March 5th. According to

the driver, the horse slipped on the wet

pavement and fell. He got tangled in his

harness and could not get back up without

help. The horse, named Nicholas was not

injured.

 

Frie

nds

of Animals has an active campaign to

ban the horse-drawn carriage industry in

Victoria and is a member of Horses

Without Carriages International. Please see Sarah's

Blog for more information.

 

 

 

 

As with Rome, Victoria is a tourist city. Please send an e-mail to the following asking

for the city to ban horse-drawn carriages.

Victoria City Hall -

councillors

James Bay Association -

jamesbayna

 

0A

 

 

 

 

 

OFF TOPIC - BUT IMPORTANT

 

 

 

Charles Patterson to discuss Eternal Treblinka on 3/11

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charles Patterson will be at the NY Public

Library on Wednesday, March 11th to discuss

his book Eternal

Treblinka. Eternal Treblinka (soon

to be in 14 languages) shows the common roots

of Nazi genocide and modern society's

enslavement and slaughter of animals. The

title comes from Yiddish writer Isaac

Bashevis Singer, who wrote, "For the animals

it is an eternal Treblinka."

 

WHERE: Mid Manhattan Library - 5th Ave.

& 40th St.

WHEN: Wednesday, March 11th at 6:30 PM.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Never doubt that a small group of

thoughtful, committed citizens can change the

world. Indeed, it is the only thing that

ever has."

Margaret Mead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

email:

coalition

 

 

web:

http://www.banhdc.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for caring about the horses, Elizabeth Forel - Coalition to Ban

Horse-Drawn Carriages - a standing committee

of The Coalition for New York City Animals,

Inc.